Portable electronic imaging devices capable of displaying digital images and video are commonplace today. Examples of such devices include digital cameras, camera-enabled cell phones, MP3 players, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), for instance. FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating example portions of the hardware interface included on conventional imaging devices.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a conventional imaging device 10 is equipped with a liquid-crystal display (LCD) or other type of display screen 12 for displaying objects 14. Objects that may be displayed on the display screen may include digital still images, video clips, menu items, and icons. In play mode, the display screen 12 is used as a playback screen for allowing the user to view objects individually or multiple objects at a time. Besides the display screen 12, the hardware user interface also includes a number of keys, buttons or switches for operating the device 10 and for navigating between displayed objects 14. Examples keys include zoom keys (not shown) for zooming a displayed image, a navigation controller 18, and a select key 20. A four-way navigation controller 18 is shown in FIG. 1A, which includes four keys; left/right keys 18a and 18b having a horizontal orientation, and up/down keys 18c and 18d having a vertical orientation. FIG. 1B is a diagram similar to FIG. 1A, where like components have like reference numerals, but shows the conventional imaging device 10 with a two-way navigation controller that only includes two keys 18a and 18b rather than four.
In both embodiments shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a user navigates to a desired object 14 by pressing the navigation controller 18. In the case where a single object 14 is displayed on the screen 12, the displayed object 14 is considered the current selection. In the case where multiple objects 14 are displayed, a highlight or other indication is moved from object 14 to object 14 as the user navigates to indicate the currently selected object 14. Once the user navigates to a desired object 14, the user may initiate the default action associated with the current selection by pressing the select key 20. Examples of actions that can be performed by pressing the select key 20 include edit, open/execute, and delete. The select key 20 is shown in the center of the navigation controller 18 in FIG. 1A, but the select key 20 may also be located outside of the navigation controller, as shown in FIG. 1B. In yet other embodiments, the 2-way/4-way navigation controller 18 may be implemented as an integrated 2-way/4-way key.
Although the current solution for allowing a user to navigate among objects and to initiate an action associated with the object 14 using a combination of the navigation controller 18 and the select key 20 works for its intended purposes, this implementation has several disadvantages. First, space for keys is limited on portable imaging devices. Having separate navigation and selection keys 18 and 20 occupies valuable space on the device 10. The user must find and press the right key in the correct sequence, which given the small keys on many portable devices due to miniaturization, is not always an easy task.
In addition, the user must find the right portion of the navigation controller 18 for the direction of navigation desired. Users of devices with navigation controller keys often get unexpected results from pressing an undesired portion of the navigation controller key 18. The most typical error is when the user presses a navigation key when intending to press the selection key 20 to initiate the selection function.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method and apparatus for implementing the navigation and select functions on the portable electronic imaging device. The present invention addresses such a need.